Rethinking Signing Bonuses

The health care industry has a consistent decade-long history with signing bonuses. Other sectors used signing bonuses during the tight labor markets of the late 1990s, but dropped them during the 2001-2003 downturn. Now signing bonuses are back in a wide range of industries. As labor markets tighten for specific skills, employers are handing out $500 to $100,000 cash upfront to cement deals with new hires for hard-to-fill positions.